Established in 1897, Jewish Women International (JWI) is the foremost Jewish organization working to end gender based violence and create gender equity. JWI believes engaging men and boys is a part of the solution to achieving that vision.
We are encouraging men to rethink their perception of masculinity - “What does it mean to be a man?” - by asking them to explore, “Who do you want to be?” rather than, “Who does society tell you to be?” With Jewish men being indicted in the #MeToo movement, this is a critical moment for the Jewish community to reflect on what it means to be a ‘mentsch’ and ways to build equity and safety in our homes, workplaces, schools, and synagogues.
Since the early 2000s JWI has developed programmatic initiatives for teen boys, college men, young professionals, and community leaders.
Our Good Guys workshops helped teen boys understand what it means to be in a healthy relationship.
Our award-winning Boy to Mentsch initiative funded by the U.S. Office on Violence Against Women brings healthy masculinity programs to men and boys in Orthodox Jewish communities.
Since 2013, our innovative partnership with Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) national fraternity brings peer-led, co-ed, healthy relationship and consent workshops to historically Jewish campus Greek life.
Through a grant from the U.S. Office on Violence Against Women, JWI is creating programmatic opportunities for Jewish and fraternity men to talk to one another about mentorship, leadership, socialization, and healthy masculinity.
A grant from the Safety Respect and Equity Network (SRE) developed “Men as Allies: Leading Equitable Workplaces” which gathers male staffers and male lay leaders/donors for facilitated conversations on leadership, Jewish masculinity, and the post #MeToo workplace. The project has been piloted and is launching nationally.